‘Cease Fire, Comrades!’ Anarcho‐syndicalist Revolutionary Prophesy, Anti‐Fascism and the Origins of the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

This article challenges the traditionally accepted claims that in the early months of 1936, the anarcho‐syndicalist labour union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo [National Confederation of Labour], or CNT, posed a revolutionary threat to the Spanish Second Republic. This argument has been used to explain the collapse of the Republican regime, and consequently the military coup that sparked the Spanish Civil War in July 1936. Though revolutionary insurrectionism was inherently characteristic of the CNT and the anarcho‐syndicalist movement, in 1936, the organisation was neither prepared nor willing to incite a social revolution. This article analyses the reasons for the anarcho‐syndicalists' turn to moderation, paying special attention to the emergence of a perceived ‘fascist threat’ that heavily influenced the change in anarcho‐syndicalist insurrectionary tactics which lasted into the Spanish Civil War. It also evaluates the impact of these findings on Civil War historiography, and proposes a reconsideration of the assessment of blame for beginning the conflict.